


Be Patient

by fanfictionandcats



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-12
Updated: 2013-07-12
Packaged: 2017-12-19 07:02:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/880834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanfictionandcats/pseuds/fanfictionandcats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“And the night after, when we all got on the bus to drive back, I wanted you, Cora. But you weren’t there. You’re never there.”</p>
<p>post-Motel California, so canon up to 3x06. </p>
<p>(based off tumblr prompt: Cora comforts Isaac after everything that's happened in "Motel California")</p>
            </blockquote>





	Be Patient

**Author's Note:**

> This went a little off the prompt, but all through these episodes of s3 i've just been thinking "WHY ISN'T ANYONE ASKING CORA HOW SHE ESCAPED THE FIRE AND HOW SHE SURVIVED AND WHERE SHE'S BEEN THESE PAST YEARS ?????"
> 
> So this is what happened.

The door to the apartment opens, and Isaac trudges inside, his entire body sagging under the weight of himself. The dufflebag strap pushes down sharply on his shoulder, his eyes drooping as he shuffles into the main room. He breathes in the familiar smell of pack and lets it relax his muscles, pushes himself to feel safe now that he’s gotten away from that awful place.

 

Cora pops out from her room, darting out and giving him a quick, dry kiss on the cheek. “Hey, how was - Isaac?”

 

He shifts past her, tiredly pushing open the door to his bedroom, dropping his bag and falling onto the bed on his back, covering his eyes with both his hands and blocking out the midday sun streaming in from the dusty windows.

 

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Cora’s voice asks cautiously. He blinkes his eyes open and finds her standing in the doorway. When he looks at her, he felt his eyes burning, so he shuts them again. A second later, he feels her sit on the bed next to him, her hand gripping his forearm.

 

“Isaac, please, you’re scaring me.”

 

He swallows thickly and tells her everything that’s happened with one big breath, the fact that they hadn’t ever even made it to the lacrosse game, and that he’d punched Ethan and Allison had to stitch up Scott because he wasn’t healing on his own, and they’d had to stop for the night at some motel and someone had put wolfsbane in Coach’s whistle and made all the werewolves hallucinate, of the suicidal variety.

 

And the walls are closing in on him again, everywhere, and it’s freezing. His throat starts to close up and he can’t breathe, everything hurts, but she kisses him, bracketing his face with her hands and grounding him. He’s in the apartment, he repeats, he’s with Cora in the apartment.

 

He feels guilty, again, for a moment because he’d left her there for days, alone. Right after Derek died. Everything still reeks of him, and he’s jarred by the fact that he hadn’t taken more than a few minutes to mourn. His Alpha was dead.

 

“It wasn’t real.” Cora whispers against his lips. She’s warm.

 

“It felt real.” He blurts out. “I was under the bed, and I thought - I thought I was in the freezer again.”

 

“The freezer.” She repeats slowly, her face screwed up with profound sympathy because she knows he still has nightmares about it, the darkness and steel on all sides, screaming and praying to get out but no one answered.

 

“And the night after, when we all got on the bus to drive back, I wanted you, Cora.” He hears his voice confessing. “But you weren’t there. You’re never there.”

 

And he hates the way her face looks, because he knows he shouldn’t hurt her like this right now. Not when they need each other so much, but he’s been holding that in for too long, and he is angry.

 

“I’m here now.” She offers, her soft hands wrapping around his neck. She presses her forehead against his, and he hears her heartbeat speeding up just the slightest bit.

 

“I don’t know anything about you or where you’ve been the past few years. And you won’t tell me.”

 

She pulls away, suddenly defensive. “You never asked.”

 

“Look, could you just go? I’m tired, I need to sleep.” He says exasperatedly, turning over away from her. He senses her get up off the bed, but she doesn’t leave the room.

 

He hears her breathe, sounding nervous and desperate, and his heart aches.  

 

“I’m sorry. I need - I need you to understand that this, this isn’t easy for me. I’m not... I don’t know how to be open anymore.” She says, voice quiet and broken. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had someone to care for. Who cares for me.”

 

He sits up to look at her, and he he can see her staring at the ceiling, almost trembling. He holds out his hand, and she takes it tentatively. He pulls her back down next to him.

 

He feels how hard that was for her to say. She doesn’t like talking about feelings, he knows this. So he kisses her neck softly in thanks. Before he can pull away, she wraps her arms around him and hugs him close to her.

 

“Please be patient with me.” She whispered, her cheeks beginning to be wet from tears. “I’m not ready to talk about it now. Not to anyone. But I promise I will.”

 

The answer frustrates him, but he’s exhausted. And maybe he’ll fight with her about it later, but for now he just needs her, in any capacity she’s willing to give him. So he replies, “Ok.”

  
And he lifts the covers and they crawl into bed together, and he holds onto her and she holds onto him, trading breath back and forth as they fall asleep.  


End file.
